Rug rolling machines



April 12, 1955 c. P. DYKEN 2,706,094

RUG ROLLING MACHINES Filed July 21, 1953 2 Shets-Sheet l INVENTOR. CHARLES P DYKEN April 12, 1955 c. P. DYKEN 2,706,094

RUG ROLLING MACHINES Filed July 21, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. CHARLES P. DYKEN United States Patent "ice RUG ROLLING MACHINES Charles P. Dyken, West Bend, Wis.

Application July 21, 1953, Serial No. 369,413

6 Claims. (Cl. 242-66) My invention relates to improvements in rug rolling machines, and more particularly to a machine for rolling linoleum rugs, floor covering or the like.

An object of my invention is to provide a device that will roll linoleum or the like into a compact roll without the use of a center core.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device that will guide the material rotatably during the rolling operation and will permit the compact roll to drop down 7 by gravity when the operation is completed.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a device that will roll a rug or floor covering with its printed or processed surface to the top as it is conveyed toward the roller, and will revolve the rug into a compact roll with the printed surface to the outside of the roll.

It is common practice based on absolute necessity that. linoleum, congoleum or printed floor covering of any kind be rolled in a manner in which the printed or processed surface of the floor covering is on the outside of the roll after the roll is completed ready for shipment.

It is therefore imperative that the floor covering which enters the rolling machine be arranged with the processed surface at the top, and rolled in a manner whereby the rolled portion is rotatably supported below the surface of the feed table.

The device illustrated, claimed, and specified herein is a simple device employing flanged contact rollers, one of which is actuated vertically by gravity at the top of the machine similar to the arrangement shown and described in my co-pending application Serial No. 777,754, filed October 3, 1947, now Pat. No. 2,573,188, but the arrangement of the guide fingers and flanged rollers is such that it accomplishes the purpose for which it is intended, namely that of rolling the material fed to the rollers with the processed side upward in a manner to place the processed side of the rug or the like toward the outside of the completed roll.

Other and further objects of my invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the shafts, rollers, and the adjustment feature showing the floor covering being rolled at the beginning of the operation.

Figure 2 is a similar view as shown in Figure 1, but with the rolled portion of the rug advanced to a larger diameter.

Figure 3 is a top view of the guide arm assembly.

Figure 4 is a side view of the guide arm assembly.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary top view of the roller assembly, showing the flanges and spacers, and

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the roller assembly taken at the line 66 in Figure 5.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and referring now to the same, the character 10 shows a vertical end plate. Obviously, there is one plate 10 on each side of the assembled rolling machine, and they act as supports for the rollers and guide arms. These vertical plates 10 are provided with a vertical slot 11 and an angularly disposed slot 12. The vertical slot 11 guides a bearing 13 which supports a shaft 14 which shaft extends across the entire assembled machine and supports a roller assembly consisting of discs 15 and spacers 16. The discs 15 may be covered with a rubber around their outer periphery for frictional contact with the floor covering shown as 17, which enters the machine over the surface plate 18 form- 2,795fl94 Patented Apr. 12, 1955 ing a part of the unit, and which has a table arrangement shown as 19 disposed longitudinally adjacent the front end of the surface plate 18.

The other angularly disposed slot 12 in the plate 10 guides a bearing 20, in which the shaft 21 is disposed. This shaft 21 extends across the entire width of the assembled machine and supports a plurality of discs shown as 22 and spacers shown as 23. These spacers 23 space the discs 22 apart from one another for their engagement with the discs 15 mounted on the shaft 14 and overlap each other as shown at 24 in Figure 1. The object of the angularly disposed slot 12 is to permit the bearings 20 supporting the shaft 21 to slide downward by gravity wthin the slot 12 of the plate 10.

There is another driven shaft 25 extending longitudinally across the assembled machine from one plate 10 to the other. This shaft 25 is obviously supported in bearings mounted on the plate 10, and has a pulley 26 which is a driven pulley when actuated by means of the belt 27 driven by a motor pulley 28 forming a part of the actuating means or motor 29.

The shaft 25 is also provided with a plurality of discs 30 spaced apart from one another by means of spacers 31, and also supports an idler arm shown at 32 into which a series of rollers or discs 33 are spaced apart from one another by means of spacers 34 mounted on a shaft 35. This shaft 35 is supported on each end by means of the idler arm 32 and an adjustment lever 36 is pivotally connected at 37 to the arm 32 and extends outward from the face of the plate 10 through an aperture 38 disposed in a projecting member 39, and held in a raised position as shown in Figure l by means of the resilient member 40, which resilient member 40 contacts the projecting member 39 on the frame 10 on one end and has a collar arrangement 41 at its other end. This collar 41 is attached to the lever 36 by means of a set screw or the like or in any convenient manner.

There is another shaft 42 which is rigidly mounted at each end within the plates 10. This shaft 42 supports a guide arm shown as 43 which extends toward the center of the machine and provided with rollers 44 that contact the outer periphery of the spacers 31 on the shaft 25, and have second rollers 45 disposed between the guide arms 43, which second rollers 45 support the floor covering 17 as it enters the machine, and the extending ends of the guide arms 43are formed to a semi-radial contour on the face 46 to guide the floor covering as it enters the machine and is brought around in circular fashion as shown in Figures 1 and 2. These guide arms 43 are disposed between the flanges 30 mounted on the shaft 25 and are supported by the rollers 44 in their contact with the spacers 31 on the shaft 25.

Obviously, as the roll of floor covering increases in diameter, as shown in Figure 2, it will cause the flanges 33 on the idler-arm 32 to be pushed downward against the tension of the spring 40, and when a pre-determined amount of floor covering has been rolled, the idler may be brought down by manually pulling the handle 47 on the rod 36 to permit the rolled floor covering to drop downward, ready for the next length of floor covering to be rolled, and as soon as the roll has dropped downward by gravity, the idler roller will automatically be raised by the spring pressure of the resilient member 40, to bring it up for closer engagement with the discs 15 and 22 on the other two slidably mounted shafts 14 and 21 respectively.

In this manner, the floor covering 17 entering the machine will be brought into engagement with the discs 15 and will be carried through for contact with the slidably mounted discs 22, and as it proceeds downward in radial fashion, it will contact the outer peripheral edges of the discs 33 in the idler arrangement, and the face 46 of the guide arms 43 will guide it upward so that it will automatically find a radial contour to roll the rug without a core, and as the diameter of the rolled rug increases, it will have a tendency to push the discs 15 and 22 upward, and the discs 33 on the idler downward to take care of the increase in diameter until a suflicient amount of floor covering 17 has been rolled to complete the operation.

In Figures 1 and 2, I show drive arrangement for the various shafts 25, 14 and 21. This is accomplished by means of sprockets, link members and chains as illustrated. In the drawing, the shaft 14 supports a pair of link members 48 and 50 respectively at each of its ends adjacent to the end plate bearings 13. These link mem bers 48 and 50 are hingedly mounted to shafts 51 and 52 respectively which act as bearings. The shaft 51 has a link member 53 pivotally and hingedly mounted thereon, which link is rotatably mounted on its other end to the shaft 25, while the shaft 52 has a link member 54 hingedly mounted therein, which link is rotatably mounted on its other end to the shaft 21. All of the shafts 25, S1, 14, 52, and 21 are provided with sprockets rigidly vmounted thereon, and all the sprockets are placed in engagement with one another by means of chains.

Obviously. although I show sprocket and chain drives, belts and pulleys may be employed as driving means to accomplish the same results.

The shaft 25, actuated by the motor 29, is provided with a sprocket 55, and the shaft 51 is equipped with a double sprocket shown as 56, and a chain 57 is shown disposed over the sprocket 55 and one of the sprockets 56, while a chain 58 is disposed over the other sprocket 56 and one of a pair of sprockets 59 mounted on the shaft 14, and a chain 60 is disposed over the other sprocket 59 and one of a double sprockets 61 is connected to a single sprocket 62 mounted on the shaft 21 by means of the chain 63.

In this manner, all the rolls will be revolved in the direction shown by the arrows, and all the chains or belts will move in the direction shown by the arrows.

Obviously, it is possible to insert paper floor covering and thus seal the outer peripheral surface of the rolled rug, however, this is not a part of my application, and is covered by my co-pending application.

While I have herein shown a particular arrangement of the various rollers and discs constituting my device, I am fully cognizant of the fact that many changes may be made in their form and configuration without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is:

l. A device for rolling a flat pliable product on itself, said device comprising in combination, a frame having a pair of vertical end plates, a horizontal roller journalled within bearings attached to said frame, said roller having peripheral flanges extending outward therefrom and spaced apart from one another, a plurality of guides, each guide pivotally mounted at one of its ends onto said frame, and positioned between the flanges on said roller, said guides having a face of radial contour at their inwardly extending ends, said frame being provided with vertical slots through its vertical end plates, said frame further being provided with angularly disposed slots through its vertical end plates, said vertical slots disposed oppositely from one another and having bearings slidably supported therein, said angularly disposed slots being disposed oppositely from one another and having bearings slidably supported therein, horizontal rollers journalled within the bearings in said vertical and angularly disposed slot, said rollers having peripheral flanges extending outward therefrom and spaced apart from one another, an idler roller comprising a plurality of outwardly extending peripheral flanges spaced apart from one another, link members pivotally mounted to the horizontal roller journalled within bearings attached to said frame, said link members supporting said idler roller, resilient means supported by said frame, said resilient means employed to urge said idler roller upwardly within said frame means for moving said idler roller downward against the tension of said resilient means, and an actuating means mounted on said frame for revolving said rollers during the operation of said device.

2. A device for rolling a flat, pliable product on itself, said device comprising in combination, a frame provided with a pair of oppositely disposed vertical end plates, a horizontal drive roller rotatably journalled within said end plates, a plurality of guide arms pivotally mounted at one of their ends to said frame, the other end of said guide arms having a semi-radial contour, said guide arms extending outward from the inner periphery of said drive roller, a top roller, said end plates provided with vertically movable bearings, said top roller journalled at both of its ends within said vertically movable bearings, an auxiliary roller, said end plate provided with angularly slidable movable bearings, said auxiliary roller journalled at both of its ends within said angularly movable bearings, an idler roller, means for supporting said idler roller from said horizontal roller, a lever slidably supported at the front portion of said frame, said lever attached at its inwardly disposed end to the supporting means for said idler roller, a resilient member, said resilient member disposed over said slidably supported lever, and employed for normally urging said idler roller upward, a handle on said lever for forcing said idler downward against the tension of said resilient member, an actuating means attached to said frame for rotating said horizontal drive roller, and means on said horizontal drive roller for rotating said vertical movable roller and said auxiliary movable roller.

3. A device for rolling a flat pliable product on itself, said device comprising in combination, a frame, said frame equipped with a vertical end plate on each end thereof, a horizontal drive shaft, said horizontal drive shaft rotatably journalled in bearings rigidly attached at the inner face of said vertical end plates, a pair of bearings each slidably mounted to the inside of said end plates to permit vertical movement, a second shaft journalled within said bearing, another pair of bearings each slidably mounted to the inside of said end plates to permit angular movement, a third shaft journalled within said bearings, all of said shafts equipped with outwardly extending circular flanges spaced apart from one another, a plurality of guide members, each guide member pivotally attached at one of its ends to said frame, the other end of said guide member provided with a face of radial contour, said guide members positioned between the flanges in said horizontally disposed drive shaft, an idler roller comprising a plurality of outwardly extending peripheral flanges spaced apart from one another, link members pivotally mounted to the shaft supporting said horizontal drive roller journalled within said frame, said link member supporting said idler roller, resilient means supported by said frame, said resilient means employed to urge said idler roller upwardly within said frame, means for moving said idler roller downward against the tension of said resilient means, and an actuating means for revolving all of said rollers during the operation of said device.

4. A device for rolling a fiat, pliable product on itself, said device comprising in combination, a frame provided with a pair of oppositely disposed vertical end plates, a horizontal flanged roller rotatably journalled within said end plates, a plurality of guided arms pivotally mounted at their one end to said frame, the other end of said guide arms having a semi-radial contour, said guide arms'disposed within the flanges of said roller, said flanges extending outward from the inner face of the periphery of said horizontal roller, a flanged top roller, said end plate provided with vertically movable bearings, said top roller journalled at both of its ends within said vertically movable bearings, an auxiliary flanged roller, said end plate provided with angularly slidable movable bearings, said auxiliary roller journalled at both ends within said angularly movable bearings, an idler roller, means for supporting said idler roller from said horizontal roller, a lever slidably supported at the forward portion of said frame, said lever attached at its inwardly disposed ends to the supporting means for said idler roller, a resilient member, said resilient member engaging said lever and employed for normally urging said idler roller upward, a handle on the outer end of said lever for forcing said idler downward against the tension of said resilient member. an actuating means attached to said frame, said actuating means employed for rotating said horizontal roller, link members supported by said rollers connecting said horizontal, top and auxiliary rollers, and means attached to said rollers and supported by said link members for rotatably actuating said top and auxiliary roller when said horizontal roller is revolved by said actuating means.

5. A device for rolling a flat pliable product on itself, said device comprising in combination, a frame having a pair of vertical end plates, a horizontal roller journalled Within bearings attached to the end plates of said frame, said roller having peripheral flanges extending outward therefrom and spaced apart from one another by means of circular spacers, a plurality of guides, each guide pivotally mounted at one of its ends onto said frame and positioned between the flanges on the horizontal roller, said guides provided with rollers slidably mounted in vertical fashion onto said guides, resilient means attached to said guides for urging said rollers downward into peripheral contact with the circular spacers between the flanges of said horizontal roller, said guides having a face of radial contour at their inwardly extending ends, said frame being provided with vertical slots through its vertical end plates, said frame further being provided with angularly disposed slots through its vertical end plates, said vertical slots disposed 0ppositely from one another and having bearings slidably supported therein, said angularly disposed slots being disposed oppositely from one another and having bearings slidably supported therein, horizontal rollers journalled Within the bearings in said vertical and angularly disposed slot, said rollers having peripheral flanges extending outward therefrom and provided with circular spacers between said peripheral flanges, an idler roller comprising a plurality of outwardly extending peripheral flanges spaced apart from one another by means of spacers, link members pivotally mounted to the horizontal roller journalled within bearings attached to said frame, said link members supporting said idler roller, resilient means supported by said frame, said resilient means employed to urge said idler roller upwardly within said frame, means for moving said idler roller downward against the tension of the said resilient means, an actuating means and means mounted on said frame and rollers for revolving said rollers during the operation of said device.

6. A device for rolling flat, a pliable product on itself, said device comprising in combination, a frame provided with a pair of oppositely disposed vertical end plates, a horizontal flanged roller rotatably journalled within said end plates, said roller consisting of outwardly extending flanges spaced apart from one another by circular spacers, a plurality of guide arms pivotally mounted at one of their ends onto said frame and positioned between the flanges of the horizontal roller, said guide arms provided with rollers slidably mounted in vertical fashion onto said guide arms, resilient means attached to said guide arms for urging said rollers downward for their peripheral contact with the periphery of the spacers between said flanges, the other end of said guide arms having a semi-radial contour, and extending outward from the face of the periphery of said horizontal roller, a flanged top roller, said end plate provided with vertically movable bearings, said top roller journalled at both of its ends within said vertically movable bearing, an auxiliary flanged roller, said end plates provided with angularly disposed slidable bearings, said auxiliary roller journalled at both of its ends within said angularly disposed movable bearings, an idler roller, means for supporting said idler roller from said horizontal roller, a lever slidably supported at the forward portion of said frame, said lever attached at its inwardly disposed end onto the supporting means of said idler roller, a resilient member supported by said lever between the forward portion of said frame and said idler roller support, and said resilient member employed for normally urging said idler roller upward, a handle on the outer ends of said lever for forcing said idler downward against the tension of said resilient member, an actuating means attached to said frame, said actuating means employed for rotating said horizontal roller, link members supported by said rollers connecting said horizontal, top, and auxiliary rollers, and means attached to said rollers and supported by said link members for rotatably actuating said top and auxiliary roller by said horizontal roller when said horizontal roller is revolved by said operating means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lichtenstadt Mar. 19, 1907 

